---
id: graphql-directives
title: GraphQL Directives
slug: /api-reference/graphql-and-directives/
description: API Reference for GraphQL directives
keywords:
  - GraphQL
  - Directive
  - arguments
  - argumentDefinitions
  - connection
  - relay
  - inline
  - provider
---

import DocsRating from '@site/src/core/DocsRating'; import {FbInternalOnly,
OssOnly} from 'docusaurus-plugin-internaldocs-fb/internal';

Relay uses directives to add additional information to GraphQL documents, which
are used by the [Relay compiler](../../guides/compiler/) to generate the
appropriate runtime artifacts. These directives only appear in your application
code and are removed from requests sent to your GraphQL server.

<OssOnly>

**Note:** The Relay compiler will maintain any directives supported by your server (such as `@include` or `@skip`) so they remain part of the request to the GraphQL server and won't alter generated runtime artifacts.

</OssOnly>
<FbInternalOnly>

**Note:** The Relay compiler will maintain any directives supported by your server (such as `@include` or `@skip`) so they remain part of the request to the GraphQL server and won't alter generated runtime artifacts. Additional directives are documented [here](https://www.internalfb.com/intern/wiki/GraphQL/APIs_and_References/Directives/#graphql-standard).

</FbInternalOnly>

## `@arguments`

`@arguments` is a directive used to pass arguments to a fragment that was
defined using [`@argumentDefinitions`](#argumentdefinitions). For example:

```graphql
query TodoListQuery($userID: ID) {
  ...TodoList_list @arguments(count: $count, userID: $userID) # Pass arguments here
}
```

## `@argumentDefinitions`

`@argumentDefinitions` is a directive used to specify arguments taken by a
fragment. For example:

```graphql
fragment TodoList_list on TodoList
@argumentDefinitions(
  count: {type: "Int", defaultValue: 10} # Optional argument
  userID: {type: "ID"} # Required argument
) {
  title
  todoItems(userID: $userID, first: $count) {
    # Use fragment arguments here as variables
    ...TodoItem_item
  }
}
```

### Provided Variables

A provided variable is a special fragment variable whose value is supplied by a
specified provider function at runtime. This simplifies supplying device
attributes, user experiment flags, and other runtime constants to graphql
fragments.

To add a provided variable:

- add an argument with `provider: "[JSModule].relayprovider"` to
  `@argumentDefinitions`
- ensure that `[JSModule].relayprovider.js` exists and exports a `get()`
  function
  - `get` should return the same value on every call for a given run.

```graphql
fragment TodoItem_item on TodoList
@argumentDefinitions(
  include_timestamp: {
    type: "Boolean!"
    provider: "Todo_ShouldIncludeTimestamp.relayprovider"
  }
) {
  timestamp @include(if: $include_timestamp)
  text
}
```

```javascript
// Todo_ShouldIncludeTimestamp.relayprovider.js
export default {
  get(): boolean {
    // must always return true or false for a given run
    return check('todo_should_include_timestamp');
  },
};
```

Notes:

<FbInternalOnly>

- Even though fragments declare provided variables in `argumentDefinitions`,
  their parent cannot pass provided variables through `@arguments`.
- An argument definition cannot specify both a provider and a defaultValue.
- If the modified fragment is included in operations that use hack preloaders
  (`@preloadable(hackPreloader: true)`), you will need to manually add provided
  variables when calling `RelayPreloader::gen`.
  - Hack's typechecker will fail with
    `The field __relay_internal__pv__[JsModule] is missing.`
  - We strongly encourage switching to
    [Entrypoints](../../guides/entrypoints/using-entrypoints/) if possible.
- _Unstable / subject to change_
  - Relay transforms provided variables to operation root variables and renames
    them to `__relay_internal__pv__[JsModule]`.
    - Only relevant if you are debugging a query that uses provided variables.

</FbInternalOnly>

<OssOnly>

- Even though fragments declare provided variables in `argumentDefinitions`,
  their parent cannot pass provided variables through `@arguments`.
- An argument definition cannot specify both a provider and a defaultValue.
- _Unstable / subject to change_
  - Relay transforms provided variables to operation root variables and renames
    them to `__relay_internal__pv__[JsModule]`.
    - Only relevant if you are debugging a query that uses provided variables.

</OssOnly>

## `@catch`

`@catch` is a directive you can add to fields, fragments, queries, mutations,
and aliased inline fragments in your Relay queries to declare how field-level
errors are handled in runtime.

See also [the @catch guide](../../guides/catch-directive/).

## `@connection(key: String!, filters: [String])`

With `usePaginationFragment`, Relay expects connection fields to be annotated
with a `@connection` directive. For more detailed information and an example,
check out the
[docs on `usePaginationFragment`](../../guided-tour/list-data/rendering-connections).

## `@refetchable(queryName: String!, directives: [String], preferFetchable: Boolean)`

With `useRefetchableFragment` and `usePaginationFragment`, Relay expects a
`@refetchable` directive. The `@refetchable` directive can only be added to
fragments that are "refetchable", that is, on fragments that are declared on
`Viewer` or `Query` types, or on a type that implements `Node` (i.e. a type that
has an id). The `@refetchable` directive will autogenerate a query with the
specified `queryName`. This will also generate Flow types for the query,
available to import from the generated file: `<queryName>.graphql.js`. For more
detailed information and examples, check out the docs on
[`useRefetchableFragment`](../use-refetchable-fragment/) or
[`usePaginationFragment`](../use-pagination-fragment/).

Optionally, you can pass in a list of directives to add to the autogenerated
query. For example, this can be used to add the `@relay_test_operation`
directive for [testing](../../guides/testing-relay-components):

[Optional] `preferFetchable: Boolean`

This argument tells the Relay compiler to prefer generating
`fetch_MyType(): MyType` queries for types that implement the `Node` interface.
This is useful for schemas that have adopted the `@strong` and `@fetchable`
server annotations for types. You can directly fetch concrete objects without
needing to refine `Node` interface to a specific type.

```javascript
graphql`
  fragment FriendsListComponent_user on User
  @refetchable(
    queryName: "FriendsListFetchQuery"
    directives: ["@relay_test_operation"]
  ) {
    ...
  }
`;
```

## `@relay(plural: Boolean)`

When defining a fragment for use with `useFragment`, you can use the
`@relay(plural: true)` directive to indicate that the hook expects the prop for
that fragment to be a list of items instead of a single item. A query or parent
that spreads a `@relay(plural: true)` fragment should do so within a plural
field (ie a field backed by a
[GraphQL list](http://graphql.org/learn/schema/#lists-and-non-null). For
example:

```javascript
// Plural fragment definition
graphql`
  fragment TodoItems_items on TodoItem @relay(plural: true) {
    id
    text
  }
`;

// Plural fragment usage: note the parent type is a list of items (`TodoItem[]`)
fragment TodoApp_app on App {
  items {
    // parent type is a list here
    ...TodoItem_items
  }
}
```

## `@required`

`@required` is a directive you can add to fields in your Relay queries to
declare how null values should be handled at runtime.

See also [the @required guide](../../guides/required-directive/).

## `@throwOnFieldError`

`@throwOnFieldError` is a directive you can add to your Relay queries and fragments to have Relay throw if any field errors are encountered when reading the query or fragment. Adding the directive will allow Relay to generate non-null types for any fields marked as `@semanticNonNull` in the schema.

See also [the @throwOnFieldError guide](../../guides/throw-on-field-error-directive/).

**Read more about Relay's experimental support for
[Semantic Nullability](../../guides/semantic-nullability.mdx).**

## `@semanticNonNull`

The `@semanticNonNull` directive can be added to fields in your schema to
indicate that the field is non-nullable in the semantic sense, but that the
client should still be prepared to handle errors.

**Read more about Relay's experimental support for
[Semantic Nullability](../../guides/semantic-nullability.mdx).**

## `@alias`

`@alias` is a directive that allows you to give a fragment spread or inline
fragment an alias, similar to a field alias. This is useful when you want to
conditionally include a fragment and check if it was fetched, or otherwise group
data together.

For fragment spreads, the alias will default to the fragment name. For inline
fragments, the alias will default to the type name. If you wish to supply your
own name, or you have an inline fragment without any type condition, you can
specify the alias using the `as` argument.

```graphql
fragment MyFragment on User {
  ... on User @alias(as: "myGreatAlias") {
    name
  }
}
```

See also [the @alias guide](../../guides/alias-directive/).

## `@inline`

The hooks APIs that Relay exposes allow you to read data from the store only
during the render phase. In order to read data from outside of the render phase
(or from outside of React), Relay exposes the `@inline` directive. The data from
a fragment annotated with `@inline` can be read using `readInlineData`.

In the example below, the function `processItemData` is called from a React
component. It requires an item object with a specific set of fields. All React
components that use this function should spread the `processItemData_item`
fragment to ensure all of the correct item data is loaded for this function.

```javascript
import {graphql, readInlineData} from 'react-relay';

// non-React function called from React
function processItemData(itemRef) {
  const item = readInlineData(
    graphql`
      fragment processItemData_item on Item @inline {
        title
        price
        creator {
          name
        }
      }
    `,
    itemRef,
  );
  sendToThirdPartyApi({
    title: item.title,
    price: item.price,
    creatorName: item.creator.name,
  });
}
```

```javascript
export default function MyComponent({item}) {
  function handleClick() {
    processItemData(item);
  }

  const data = useFragment(
    graphql`
      fragment MyComponent_item on Item {
        ...processItemData_item
        title
      }
    `,
    item,
  );

  return <button onClick={handleClick}>Process {item.title}</button>;
}
```

## `@relay(mask: Boolean)`

It is not recommended to use `@relay(mask: false)`. Please instead consider
using the `@inline` fragment.

`@relay(mask: false)` can be used to prevent data masking; when including a
fragment and annotating it with `@relay(mask: false)`, its data will be
available directly to the parent instead of being masked for a different
container.

Applied to a fragment definition, `@relay(mask: false)` changes the generated
Flow types to be better usable when the fragment is included with the same
directive. The Flow types will no longer be exact objects and no longer contain
internal marker fields.

This may be helpful to reduce redundant fragments when dealing with nested or
recursive data within a single Component.

Keep in mind that it is typically considered an **anti-pattern** to create a
single fragment shared across many containers. Abusing this directive could
result in over-fetching in your application.

In the example below, the `user` prop will include the data for `id` and `name`
fields wherever `...Component_internUser` is included, instead of Relay's normal
behavior to mask those fields:

```javascript
graphql`
  fragment Component_internUser on InternUser @relay(mask: false) {
    id
    name
  }
`;
```

## `@waterfall`

With [Relay Resolvers](../../guides/relay-resolvers/introduction.mdx) it's
possible to create client-defined edges in the graph which point to server
types. When reading these edge fields, Relay is forced to lazily fetch the
server data for the edge. This will force Relay to make a second request to the
server to fetch the data for the edge.

To highlight this tradeoff both in the editor and during code review, the Relay
compiler expects all reads of these fields to be annotated as `@waterfall`.

```graphql
fragment EditPost on DraftPost {
  author @waterfall {
    name
  }
}
```

See the [Return Type](../../guides/relay-resolvers/return-types.mdx#server-types)
portion of the Relay Resolvers guide for more information.

<DocsRating />
